March 6 – “’Pause it’ and some green thumbs”

The other day when Cailyn was here Chris was attempting to tell me all about a story she had heard on 60 Minutes.  It was a pretty convoluted thing, so she was explaining all the ins and outs of the case they were investigating.  Apparently she was taking just a little bit too long.  Cailyn desperately wanted her attention.  She paced.  She left the room and returned several times.  She stared.  Finally she could hold it back no longer.  Her news was just too important to wait another second.  She blurted out, “Nani, can you just pause it for a minute?”  That just about doubled me over in laughter right there.  But I was done for when Chris suddenly stopped her story in mid-sentence and held her pose, one arm held high in mid-gesture.  Cailyn was not at all sure what to do with that until Chris finally broke from her frozen posture and gave Cailyn permission to speak.  I must admit I never heard what Cailyn said.  I was too busy holding back the explosion of merriment that was threatening to burst forth.  The new generation’s version of, “Excuse me, please” … “Can you pause it for a minute?”  Gotta love it.

 That was the day Cailyn and Chris showed off their green thumbs.  As soon as Cailyn walked through the front door she wanted to plant some sunflowers.  Apparently several weeks earlier Chris had told her that when March came it would be time to plant seeds, and Cailyn wanted sunflowers.  Every time she was over here after that comment she asked if it was March yet.  Then that day came when she woke up and asked her mommy if was March yet, and Mommy said it was.  Her whole countenance changed in an instant.  She just had to get to Nani’s house before the seeds were planted.  No need to fret young one.  Nani waited for you. 

The first step involved preparing the ground to receive the seeds.  Chris had already picked out just the right spot in one of the flower beds next to the house in the back yard.  The two of them had to weed the flower bed first, then prepare the soil by tilling it up with a three-pronged rake.  Then the two of them made an excursion to WalMart and returned with the precious packet of seeds.  They had to make a decision, though.  The only options in the sunflower aisle were those that grow four to six feet tall and those that grow eight to ten feet tall.  Of course Cailyn wanted the tall ones, but not because of the height.  Apparently the pictures on the packets showed the tall ones were yellow and the short ones were multicolored.  Chris convinced her that there were indeed yellow ones in the shorter package, so that’s what they came home with.  Seeds in hand, they once again disappeared into the back yard.  This time they had to draw a line in the sand and finally drop in the seeds.  Cailyn then remembered that the seeds would need water, so she hurried off to grab her watering can and take care of that detail.  You know what?  That whole process took a lot of patience for a four-year-old.  She sure did better than me.  They lost me at “weed the flower bed.”  Guess I’ll stick to staining chairs, but that’s a story for another day.

Psalms 92:12-15 says, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.  They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, ‘The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.’”

Father, please let at least some of those sunflowers come up so Cailyn can see them grow.  Thank you.  Amen.